Is there a possibility of buying just the components un-assembled? Meaning, just the chips, the PCB, and all the associated capacitors/connectors/resistors, so we do all the soldering ourselves?
Even better, is there an option of just the asic's and the PCB un-assembled so we purchase all the passives and whatnot ourselves and solder it together ourselves??
This
may be a possibility. Creating full DIY kits requires a considerable amount of time, and depending on the option chosen for parts sourcing, may not be an option. All requests are being taken into consideration, but ultimately the most cost effective, quickest solution for the majority of the orders will take precedence.
The best way to do this would be to roll the whole thing yourself. The circuit will be stable long before the chips arrive. Get a set of boards made for $25 at iteadstudio, order all the parts from Mouser or Digikey and you have a kit. Someone might even create a BOM at one of these two so you can order in just a few clicks. It really isn't worth the hassle of assembling kits, the large online component sellers do a much better job for much less.
I don't think anyone is going to write instructions for assembly but perhaps I'm wrong. If you can mount the ASICs yourself, the rest is a piece of cake.
*edit* I would do this except I don't want to screw up the mounting of the ASICs. I'm planning on making some K1s by hand with my extra chips if they aren't used up.
He would still have to deal with the massive logistics with ordering all the components and whatnot from digikey/mouser, but that is why I also asked about the possibility of just buying the chips and PCB from them, since they obviously can get the price per square inch much lower than OSHPark's 5 dollars/sq inch. Also, I love OSHpark as well! Used them for some of my projects, and I have nothing but the best to say about the service as well as the person doing the ordering.
Since that was a maybe, I also want to verify what I have just seen, I can purchase the ASIC's from you guys now, and at a later date if you implement the ability to have just the PCB thrown in, I can add that to my order?
Also, lastly, if I believe this has been answered already but for the life of me I can't find it for some reason. What are the approximate dates for when the IC's would arrive? Before September?